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Another California city has effectively decriminalized a wide range of psychedelics, with the Arcata City Council unanimously approving the reform on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The 5-0 vote means that the possession, cultivation and distributions of entheogenic substances like psilocybin and ayahuasca will be among the city\u2019s lowest law enforcement priorities<\/a>.<\/p>\n The measure<\/a> further calls on the Humboldt County District Attorney \u201cto consider the spirit and intent of this resolution when evaluating whether to prosecute persons involved in the use of Entheogenic Plants and Fungi.\u201d<\/p>\n It explicitly states<\/a> that the commercial sale and manufacturing of psychedelics, as well as driving under the influence, will remain prohibited.<\/p>\n\n Danielle Daniel, lead organizer of Decriminalize Nature Humboldt, told Marijuana Moment that this reform represents \u201ca pivotal point in history by reclaiming our sovereign right to explore our consciousness, and to choose the path of healing that we see best fit for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith decriminalization, Arcata residents will be able to ingest, gift, gather, grow, and share entheogens without fear of arrest,\u201d she said. \u201cBy destigmatizing entheogens, the community will have more openness to conversing about the healing potential of psychoactive plants and fungi.\u201d<\/p>\n This marks the third California city to decriminalize psychedelics, following similar reforms that lawmakers have enacted in Oakland<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Santa Cruz<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Oakland, the first city in the country where a city council voted to broadly deprioritize criminalization of entheogenic substances, lawmakers approved a follow-up resolution<\/a>\u00a0in December that calls for the policy change to be adopted statewide and for local jurisdictions to be allowed to permit healing ceremonies where people could use psychedelics.<\/p>\n A bill to legalize psychedelics in California advanced through the Senate and two Assembly committees this year before being pulled by the sponsor to\u00a0buy more time to generate support among lawmakers<\/a>. The plan is to take up the reform during next year\u2019s second half of the legislative session, and the senator behind the measure\u00a0says he\u2019s confident it will pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n California activists are separately collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to legalize psilocybin mushrooms<\/a> in the state.<\/p>\n But reform efforts concerning entheogenic plants and fungi are hardly limited to California.<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s City Council approved a resolution on Monday to\u00a0decriminalize noncommercial activity around a wide range of psychedelic substances<\/a>, including the cultivation and sharing of psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, ibogaine and non-peyote-derived mescaline.<\/p>\n In Massachusetts, the Northampton City Council passed a resolution<\/a> in April stipulating that no government or police funds should be used to enforce laws criminalizing people for using or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi. Somerville<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cambridge<\/a>\u00a0have also moved to effectively decriminalize psychedelics.<\/p>\n In Michigan, the Grand Rapids City Council approved a resolution last month\u00a0calling for decriminalization of a wide range of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in Michigan, the Ann Arbor City Council has already elected to make enforcement of laws prohibition psychedelics like psilocybin, ayahuasca and DMT\u00a0among the city\u2019s lowest priorities<\/a>\u2014and lawmakers recently followed up by declaring September\u00a0Entheogenic Plants and Fungi Awareness Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Ann Arbor legislators passed that decriminalization resolution last year, the Washtenaw County prosecutor announced\u00a0that his office will not be pursuing charges<\/a>\u00a0over possessing entheogenic plants and fungi, \u201cregardless of the amount at issue.\u201d<\/p>\n A local proposal to decriminalize various psychedelics\u00a0will also appear on Detroit\u2019s November ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the same time that local activists are pursuing decriminalization, a pair of Michigan senators introduced a bill earlier this month to\u00a0legalize the possession, cultivation and delivery<\/a>\u00a0of an array of plant- and fungi-derived psychedelics like psilocybin and mescaline.<\/p>\n \u2014 The top Democrat in the Florida Senate filed a bill last month that would require the state to\u00a0research the medical benefits of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0such as psilocybin and MDMA.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Texas enacted a law directing state officials to\u00a0study psychedelics\u2019 medical value<\/a>.<\/p>\n The governor of Connecticut signed a bill in June that includes language requiring the state to carry out\u00a0a study into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oregon voters passed a pair of initiatives last November to\u00a0legalize psilocybin therapy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0decriminalize possession of all drugs<\/a>. On the local level, activists in\u00a0Portland are mounting\u00a0a push to have local lawmakers pass a resolution<\/a>\u00a0decriminalizing the cultivation, gifting and ceremonial use of a wide range of psychedelics.<\/p>\n Washington, D.C. voters also approved a ballot measure last year to\u00a0deprioritize enforcement of laws criminalizing psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n A New York lawmaker introduced a bill in June that would require the state to establish an institute to similarly\u00a0research the medical value of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Maine House of Representatives\u00a0passed a drug decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0this year, but it later\u00a0died in the Senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Denver activists who successfully led the 2019 campaign to make the city\u00a0the first in the U.S. to decriminalize psilocybin possession<\/a>\u00a0have\u00a0set their eyes on broader reform<\/a>, with plans in the works to end the criminalization of noncommercial gifting and communal use of the psychedelic.<\/p>\n In a setback for advocates, the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted against a proposal from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) that\u00a0would have removed a spending bill rider<\/a>\u00a0that advocates say has restricted federal funds for research into Schedule I drugs, including psychedelics such as psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine. However, it picked up considerably more votes this round than\u00a0when the congresswoman first introduced it<\/a>\u00a0in 2019.<\/p>\n Report provisions of separate, House-passed spending legislation also touch on the need to\u00a0expand cannabis and psychedelics research<\/a>. The panel urged NIDA to support expanded marijuana studies, for example. It further says that federal health agencies should\u00a0pursue research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans suffering from a host of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n There was an attempt by a Republican congressman to attach language into a defense spending bill that would promote research into psychedelics therapy for active duty military members,\u00a0but it was not made in order<\/a>\u00a0in the House Rules Committee last month.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a longstanding champion of marijuana reform in Congress, said on Wednesday that he intends to\u00a0help bring the psychedelics reform movement to Capitol Hill<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthis year.\u201d<\/p>\n Report provisions of separate, House-passed spending legislation also touch on the need to\u00a0expand cannabis and psychedelics research<\/a>. The panel urged NIDA to support expanded marijuana studies, for example. It further says that federal health agencies should\u00a0pursue research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans suffering from a host of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n NIDA also recently announced it\u2019s funding a study into\u00a0whether psilocybin can help people quit smoking cigarettes<\/a>.<\/p>\n An official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also said at a recent congressional hearing that the agency is \u201cvery closely\u201d following research into the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics<\/a> like MDMA for military veterans.<\/strong><\/p>\n In May, lawmakers in Congress filed the\u00a0first-ever legislation to federally decriminalize possession<\/a> of illicit substances.<\/p>\n Read the Arcata psychedelics decriminalization resolution below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access snapshot-11752.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n California Governor Signs Bill Legalizing Smokable Hemp And Sale Of CBD-Infused Foods And Drinks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Image courtesy of Kristie Gianopulos<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Third California City Moves To Decriminalize Psychedelics As Reform Movement Expands<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Another California city has effectively decriminalized a wide range of psychedelics, with the Arcata City Council unanimously approving the reform on Wednesday. The 5-0 vote means that the possession, cultivation and distributions of entheogenic substances like psilocybin and ayahuasca will be among the city\u2019s lowest law enforcement priorities. The measureContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":50371,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50372,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50370\/revisions\/50372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Third California City Moves To Decriminalize Psychedelics As Reform Movement Expands<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"